WILLIAMSPORT, PA - Grace Rittenhouse (Dansville, NY/Dansville) scored the go-ahead basket with 13 seconds remaining as part of a 53-51 win for the Alfred University women's basketball team against Goucher College on Thursday evening as part of the Hoops for Hounds Classic. 

The Saxons (5-3, 1-2 Empire 8) forced 27 turnovers, while the Gophers (2-9, 0-1 Landmark) won the rebound battle by a 51-43 margin. 

Gillian Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) led Alfred University with a team-high 14 points to go with five rebounds and four steals. Leah Harkenrider (Hornell, NY/Hornell) finished the game with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Rittenhouse added nine points for AU. 

"We executed really well defensively, both in the press and half court," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "Leah was unbelievable on a very, very talented talented player in #5. It was probably the best individual defensive performance against a player of that caliber in our time here. Our press was effective because we took away the easy options and took advantage of some long passes. We did a very poor job defensive rebounding and that led to easy second chance points and fouls. That is a totally controllable thing to fix across the board. For the first game out of the break, I thought our defense, ball movement and overall toughness was very good. Goucher did a great job answering our run in the third quarter, and we really struggled to make some shots due to some tired legs. To tough out a win like that is really impressive and I'm so proud of this group."

Flint opened scoring for the Saxons in the first quarter. Moments later, a three-point shot from Flint became part of a 7-0 run for AU. The Gophers closed out the first quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 13-12 lead going into the second quarter. Harkenrider landed a shot from beyond in the arc in the second quarter to tie the game with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. Five different Saxons scored as part of a 15-0 run to lead by as many as 12 points. Goucher cut their deficit before the Saxons entered the break with a 31-25 lead. 

Consecutive three-point shots from Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) in the third quarter extended AU's lead to double-digits. The Gophers ended the quarter on an 8-0 run, but the Saxons still led by a 47-40 margin going into the final quarter of action. An opening 7-0 run in the fourth quarter for Goucher tied the game with under seven minutes left in regulation. Two additional baskets for the Gophers had the Saxons trailing by four points. Layups from Felicia Stewart (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) and Harkenrider tied the game with 1:11 left. Rittenhouse found an opening in the paint in the final seconds left of regulation for the go-ahead lead. A defensive stand for the Saxons to close out the game sealed the victory.  

"We know we have another tough test tomorrow versus a talented Baruch team," Moskowitz said. "We will see how we do on the back-end of a quick draw back-to-back."

Alfred University will next close out the Hoops for Hounds Classic when they face Baruch College on Friday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 12:00 PM.